Slott: Liverpool hierarchy agree with me; see no reason why tactics need to change

Hupu November 1 News, including Paul Joyce, many Liverpool reporters published the second part of Liverpool head coach Slott’s match against Aston Villa.

(Transcript only)

Asked if he felt supported by sporting director Richard Hughes and Fenway Sports Group (owner of Liverpool Football Club) chief executive Michael Edwards,

Slott said:

"Not just during this period but also when things are going well. I'm pretty much saying the same things they're saying. I'm mainly with Richard. Communicate and occasionally talk to other people. Their views are the same as mine.

For me, the conversation between us has not changed much, and it is always much more enjoyable to talk about the game after winning than after losing."

Slott's media activities on Friday began with an interview with TNT Sports, hosted by former England international Owen Hargreaves. Subsequently, reporters asked questions for 25 minutes about why the team's current record is exactly the same as the trend in the first half of the 2009-2010 season (which was also Rafa Benitez's last season in charge of Liverpool).

This meant Slott had to do a lot of explaining, but he knew actions spoke louder than words.

He is increasingly concerned about whether he will be considered "making excuses", so he tried to clarify his midweek remarks about the depth of the team's lineup, emphasizing that he was referring to the reduction of team options caused by players' absence, so he was unwilling to risk players getting injured again.

Slott said he remains "firm" that Liverpool's recruitment strategy this summer - spending nearly £450 million on players aged 18 to 26 - means the club is "in a very good position at the moment", suggesting he believes the plan will ultimately be successful.

"In general, I think our problem is not that we gave our opponents too many opportunities, but that we did not seize the opportunities we created," he said. "The ball went in, so we conceded a lot of goals - but that's another story. Did we really give the opponent a lot of chances?"

Sloter countered that the latter statistic was exaggerated because his team had to run so hard - they have failed to win four games from behind in the league so far, although one of those games was tied in the 83rd minute and two others had equalizers in the 90th minute.

This belief does not mean that the 47-year-old coach is about to abandon his offensive principles in favor of more conservative tactics.

"It does go against my beliefs, but I've won games in the past by changing tactics. Last season's away game at Manchester City probably went against my beliefs, but playing like that in the second half was necessary, so I'm more than happy to make adjustments in certain situations.

I don't think we created many chances for the opponent, so I don't see any reason to completely change our style of play, but we need to do better."